Korra and Asami's Air Show
by ayziks
Summary: Korra gets brave enough to try to fly in in one of the captured and improved Equalist aeroplanes, with Asami as her pilot, and she decides to practice her air bending aided flight on her own Air Acolyte glider with Asami. All characters property of Nicklodeon.


**Title:** "Korra and Asami's Airshow"

**Author:** A6

**Word count:** 3200

**Rating:** K+ (platonic Korrasami, hinted Irohsami, Makorra moment)

**Summary:** As Korra continues her training as a fully realized Avatar, especially in her air bending skills, she's constantly aware of the growth of advanced technology into society, as her friend Asami converts her father's hideous war machines into peaceful uses for mankind. Occasionally, new technology and old traditions mix in a fun way, especially on the day Korra and Asami go flying together in a new aeroplane.

...

Korra paced nervously at the aerodrome. It wasn't that long ago that 'The Krew' had been here and conducted the pivotal battle with Hiroshi Sato to destroy his warplanes and the runways of the aerodrome that were devastating the Republic forces. Iroh II became an instant hero with his near fatal sacrifice to personally bring down the marauding war machines. They almost lost Asami to her father's own cruel hand that day, but she battled valiantly for the Republic City cause. Korra admired Asami's strength to look past the terrible betrayal by her father and seek the higher moral ground of service to Republic City instead. She guessed that was why Asami had instantly become an effective CEO of Future Industries. She could accept a terrible situation, prevail against insurmountable odds and her own emotions, and move on.

The sound of aeroplanes starting up and moving around on the taxiways, as well as several flying in the air, still gave Korra 'the creeps'. She knew, that as machines of war, aeroplanes were more damaging than anything man had yet devised, and nearly turned the tide of the Equalists against the defense of the city. The vivid memories of aerial bombs, torpedoes, and mines also used in the battle were still fresh on her mind, wondering how a brilliant man such as Hiroshi Sato could be so twisted by the loss of his wife to waste his mind and money on such horribly destructive things.

It only gave Korra a little solace that the Equalist planes now belonged to the United Republic of Nations and her ally General Iroh II. Even more importantly, Asami was building new kinds of aeroplanes and exploring their peaceful uses - to deliver packages and messages, take people quickly from one place to another across the world for commerce and governance, survey crops, look for natural resources, and even just to entertain people.

Today would be Korra's first flight in an aeroplane, with none other than Asami as the pilot. Her skill as a pilot was only matched by her driving skills. Asami and machinery got along very well together, a skill that Korra lacked, she concluded. She imagined that The Mechanist, Chief Sokka, and Asami would have been good friends, all great technology inventors. And she wondered with amusement how that stray thought of historical people from long ago got into her head.

"Are you ready my friend?" asked Asami cheerfully, standing in her latest leather flight suit, goggles and helmet. It looked great on her. Asami always seemed to connect function with good design and fashion – clearly an advantage for an woman's touch.

"Uh, I guess so," replied Korra tentatively.

"Oh come on now, Korra. When you air bend, you can fly those tiny fragile gliders. This is a lot safer than that."

"Yeah but when I fly, I'm doing it," she grinned weakly.

"Oh? You don't trust me?" Asami said in feigned indignation with her hands on her hips.

"I totally trust you, Asami. I just don't trust me."

Asami kidded Korra, "Well here's an air sick bag for you if 'you don't trust you'."

They laughed.

"Some air bender I turned out to be – afraid of flying in an aeroplane," complained Korra.

Asami patted her friend on the back, "It'll be all right. A few months ago we had no idea aeroplanes even existed. I know this is all a little jarring. Climb in and put these goggles on. It'll keep the bugs out of your eyes. We'll go much faster and higher than a glider with this new aeroplane."

"OK," Korra agreed. She hugged Mako, who gave her a peck for luck, and waved her on her way. He tried not to show his worry, but Korra could always read his feelings.

"I'll be all right, Mako," she tried to assure him, but meant the words for herself too – which he picked up. She settled in the passenger cockpit and strapped in.

With Korra all set in back, Asami went through her safety checklist, the ground personnel pulled the chocks and removed all the lines and covers, and she cranked the engines. They sputtered, a huge cloud of oil smoke surrounded the cowl – causing Korra to choke a little - and then they caught and roared. The sound of tremendous power echoed across the aerodrome and off the nearby foothills. Asami had designed this aeroplane for advanced aerobatics. Petrol engines had far more energy than steam, bending, or old-fashioned animal power. Sometimes Korra felt like an anachronism. That is surely what the Equalists had believed, especially with the power of misused technology in their hands. Literally.

The two big rotary engines gave a huge throaty roar, and smelled of oil and smoke. Korra's nose curled, and her heart rate increased. Asami and Korra pulled away from the hangar, and taxied toward the active runway.

Mako waved confidently from the ramp with the rest of the crew, but he was still nervous. His lover and his good friend were going up together and he wasn't sure he trusted aeroplanes' safety yet.

_"I can do this,"_ Korra thought.

They lined up on the runway, and Asami got a look of total concentration, chewed her lip, and firewalled the throttles. The powerful plane screamed down the repaired runway, hitting bumps all the way. The bumps rattled both women, making Korra hold her breath even more urgently.

And suddenly they were up and away, and it was smooth. The wind streamed through the women's hair.

Korra's fear turned to exhilaration as they climbed.

But in a surprise move, Asami immediately snap-rolled the plane only a few hundred feet above the ground. The engines rasped with the strain of the low altitude maneuver. Korra screamed in combined fear and delight. Asami smiled with the responsiveness of her machine held firmly in her hands, and with her move to totally surprise Korra. Mako nearly wet his pants, thinking something was wrong with the sudden maneuver, which was over as soon as it had begun. Mako was not sure if he was ready for any other surprises like that.

They cruised steadily away from the aerodrome, and the soothing cool airflow and the hum of the engines combined in a comforting way as they rose above the beautiful countryside in the high country east of the City. The mountains were very close, and she could see the forests and the rocky and snow-covered cliffs. The plane startled herds of animals and scattered flocks of birds, who had never heard such a sound.

Being along for the ride was actually calming to Korra. When she flew as an air bender, there was scarcely time for joyriding, as it was up to her to keep the airflow moving and to control her actions in the air. Air bending was never easy for her in any form. Any miscues or distractions in concentration was potentially fatal. Korra did have a pretty good sense of flying, but it was hardly natural the way the Air family seemed to do it so effortlessly. Even little Meelo was taking short hops, although he sometimes seemed like a crazed iguana-raptor chasing a cloud of tasty bugs.

Asami turned around with a smile, and Korra gave her a 'thumbs up'. This was fun after all, and Korra trusted her friend's skill. She wondered if there was any machine Asami could not master effortlessly.

They came back to the aerodrome at very high speed. They could hear the scream wind shear through the struts and wires of the twin wings of the aeroplane over the engine noise, and it sounded like some kind of spirit demon. Korra knew what was next.

Asami jerked the aeroplane into a hard bank and executed a very tight 360 degree turn. The 'g forces' pressed Korra deep into her seat, but it seemed like it didn't even bother Asami. Vapor trails formed from the biplane's wings. She pulled the aircraft into a series of continuous rolls to the right, and then suddenly to the left.

"Whoo hoo!" yelled Korra, but held on to her stomach, which wasn't keeping up.

After the dive and hard turn, Asami pulled the aeroplane into a huge loop, snap-flipped the aircraft at the top of the loop, and then finished the great circle in the air.

It was now getting to be exhilarating to Korra as she got used to the character of this powerful machine.

Asami pulled out of the loop and went skyward vertically, until they were literally hanging in the sky on the propeller. But gravity took over, they stalled, and flipped over several times, seemingly out of control. On the ground, Mako gasped. Asami cut the power, let the plane figure out by itself which way was forward, then pulled out into level flight. That was the best maneuver yet for Korra, and she let out another war-whoop. Asami heard it and was very satisfied.

She followed by conducting an inverted flight pass with both girls hanging from their seat belt straps upside down, a four point precision roll, and then for good measure, an eight point roll. Asami had an ear-to-ear grin. This aeroplane would do anything she asked it to do. On the ground, Mako and Iroh II were becoming much more comfortable and impressed with the machine, and Asami's ability to put it through its paces. They knew they were witnessing their own private air show, and that planes like this would attract big crowds just to see Asami's and probably other pilots' mastery of this agile machine.

They leveled out and Asami raised a hand quizzically. Korra wrote a note on the grease board and handed it forward to her friend. It said: 'Let's go fly over the City and Air Temple Island.'

So they banked away from the air field and headed west. The young men guessed that they were going to tour the City, and so headed back to Flight Operations to pour themselves some tea.

Iroh noted, "Korra and Asami are amazing girls. You're a lucky man to be dating the Avatar and be friends with Asami."

"That is for certain, General."

Mako peered out the big glass window to follow the dot that was carrying his love over her people. He smiled. He was indeed a lucky man…

….

People everywhere across the city looked up from their ordinary day. The last time they heard the noise of aeroplanes was during the bombardment of the City, and some had the fear return. But they saw the United Republic of Nations markings on the wings and sighed in relief.

They made another circle around the main downtown area, clearing the skyscrapers, but low enough to let Korra wave at the citizens and get a response back. It was fun for Asami to watch the connection between Korra and the citizens as she flew on, and it was clear how much the people loved their Avatar.

They banked the opposite way, and headed for Air Temple Island. The White Lotus protective force stiffened, worried that this was a rogue aircraft headed for another surprise attack. But soon they could see the two young women and realized it wasn't a threat, and so they watched the new technology in operation. It was a dream to soar with the birds, and the hot air balloons were one way, but the aeroplane seemed to conquer the air, not simply be part of it.

Tenzin looked up and got an instant idea, and picked up his staff. And something else.

"Come with me kids. Grab your staffs. Right now!" he urged.

Tenzin flipped open his glider and lifted off vertically. Jinora and Ikki followed suit. Direct vertical ascent was the hardest thing to do for an air bender. There was almost no assist in generated lift from the glider to aid their climb. It was all air bending.

Meelo looked to his mother Pema for approval to go, but she shook her head gently as she held a sleeping Rohan in his sling around her neck and shoulders, and rubbed his bald head, "Sorry my dear. You're just getting started."

"Aw, Mom…" the little guy whined and pouted.

Korra banged on the front cockpit's padded cowl to get Asami's attention. She pointed down toward the Air Family rising in the air from below and behind. Asami nodded, chopped the throttle and lowered the flaps, so the Air Family could catch up. The family flew perfect formation around her, and they all turned into the City for a flyby pass. People looked up from whatever they were doing. Many waved, and many more cheered.

It was a great sight, and the newspaper photographers took dozens of shots of the plane and the Air Family in perfect formation over the City and the Island.

Tenzin got closer and closer to the big aeroplane, and both young women wondered what he was doing. With some difficulty he took one hand off the glider and showed Korra what he had brought with him. It was her flying staff. Korra knew exactly what Tenzin was suggesting and she wanted to try it. It would be very hard to get the staff to her without crashing into the plane. It was clear that Korra was going to have to climb out on a wing to get it.

Asami was alarmed and shook her head adamantly 'no', but remember how Iroh climbed all over the Equalists' warplanes without hurting himself or initially breaking the aeroplanes to defeat the enemy. So she relented, and carefully guided the plane while Korra climbed out of her cockpit, moved along the fuselage, and on to the hard ribs of the plane. Korra carefully grabbed the struts and wires, and soon was all the way out on one wing. It was all Asami could do with the controls to offset her weight, but she did. It was intensive work balancing the aircraft with the Avatar on the wing and keeping steady so as to not run into Tenzin - who was now literally within inches of the aeroplane. If she wasn't a good pilot already, this exercise sure would make her one.

She reached out to Tenzin and he extended to her the glider staff. She got a good grip on it, nodded that she had it, and he separated quickly from the aeroplane.

She shouted over to Asami, "Here's where I get off!"

Asami yelled back, knowing Korra's flying skills as an air bender were still a little shaky, "Are you gonna be OK?"

Korra exclaimed back, "I'll be OK if you can keep the plane steady."

"You got it," Asami promised.

Korra stood fully straight up bracing herself against the 100 kilometer per hour speed of the aeroplane. She got a vise grip on her glider, knowing as soon as she opened it the wind drag would try to rip it out of her hand.

Tenzin flew formation a safe distance away, but close enough to go save Korra should the glider break and she should fall.

Korra sighed, pursed her lips, and popped the wing release of the staff.

It snapped open violently, but she held it, and steadied it. Asami had to stand on the rudder of the aeroplane to contend with the new forces on her plane. Korra and Asami exchanged glances, and she let go, grabbing the hand holds of the glider. The aeroplane, relieved of the stresses and weight of Korra, banked away sharply, and Asami corrected for it.

Korra dropped a hundred feet, bobbled and rocked her glider trying to established air bending flight, but steadied it. She started to climb to coaltitude with Asami and the aeroplane.

Korra smiled first at Asami and winked her thanks, then turned to Tenzin and grinned like an owl-cat who just ate a canary-chameleon. They all formed up on the aeroplane in rock steady formation. Jinora and Ikki joined up on the other side of the plane.

From far below and from the observation decks of the highest skyscrapers in the City, the photogs couldn't take enough photos. Several were using brand new technology of motion picture cameras, and most assuredly this remarkable sight would shown in the 'newsreels' in all the brand new movie theaters being built across the City.

It was a spectacular view watching Korra, the Air Family, and Asami's aeroplane in formation together. It was a clear an example of the mix of the old ways of bending and new ways of technology in one single occurrence. They cruised high above the city, which stood still to watch in awe as they all flew.

After the first pass, Korra indicated to the Air Family to move away. Tenzin figured out what Korra wanted to do, as he saw her confidence and concentration. The three air benders flew a safe distance from Korra and Asami.

Korra gripped her glider and flew up and over, around, and underneath Asami in a perfectly executed barrel roll. The young women smiled each other. Asami took Korra's lead, and began her aerobatic routine over the city, with Korra matching every move in her glider: all manner of rolls, loops, tight turns, climbs and dives.

It was great fun. The radio news picked up on this remarkable display in the air, so Mako and Iroh rushed outside of the aerodrome with binoculars and observed the aerial ballet between the girls from afar.

Asami and Korra started to repeat the routine, but Jinora dived out of the sky from above, leading her family to repeat all the maneuvers behind Asami and Korra.

Their laughter and shouting was loud enough to be heard on the ground. The populace was captivated.

But after awhile, everyone was exhausted, and the air benders bade farewell as they peeled off and alighted back home at Air Temple Island. Korra and Asami flew in close formation back to the mountain aerodrome, but they landed separately.

After they landed and were greeted by Iroh and Mako, the young women just couldn't stop talking about their flying adventure or stop making motions with their arms and hands, reliving every moment. The boys just shook their heads and let the pair chatter on.

….

Mako and Korra were linked closely arm and arm, with her head on his shoulder, and cuddled in the back of Asami's car on the road back to the city. She was exhausted. They listened to the radio chatter all the way back, with the praise from the newspeople and interviews on the street with everyday people.

"Korra you were great. What a great display!" he praised as he planted a big kiss on her, which she returned with gusto.

"This calls for a big celebration at our favorite noodlery tonight. My treat," announced Asami.

"Is that a date?" asked Iroh of Asami, who was seated next to Asami.

"What do you think?" she smiled.

Korra and Mako smiled at each other in the back seat upon hearing that flirtation, and kissed.

In the morning, the newspaper headlines screamed: AERIAL BALLET: KORRA AND ASAMI 'WOW' CITY IN FLIGHT.


End file.
